Matched
by Emily Kercheval
Summary: This occurs before Season 4. Tommy meets his equal when an Irish girl enters the ranks and drives straight into his heart.


November in New York City was a beautiful sight to behold whilst at the same time it was cold and you never know when it'd snow. Ehren hated it already even though she'd been in the city for just a few weeks from Boston, Massachusetts to here but she was raised in Dublin, Ireland until she was fifteen then they moved to Brooklyn. She chose to move to Boston then got a job offer here in New York. She walked down the sidewalk with her black peacoat buttoned up and Burberry scarf drawn close over her mouth. A black beanie covered her white blonde hair. A large bag was slung onto her back which shifted as she walked.  
In the grey light of day other pedestrians seemed drawn to her very bright green eyes and model-like strut in her tight blue jeans and black Ugg boots. She came upon a building and looked up at the sign, New York Fire Department Station 62. Warily she stepped inside and looked around, loosening her scarf as heat circulated through the open bay where two trucks sat; an Engine and a Ladder. She took off her beanie, her French braid frizzy from static.

"Can I help you? Civilians aren't allowed in here." Came a very smooth yet arrogant voice. Ehren's attention turned as she looked over her shoulder as a tall, lanky blonde man came up to her. Black slacks and a pull-over sweatshirt covering his blue uniform shirt._ FDNY F/F Gavin_ was embroidered on it.

"I'm looking for a Chief Jerry Riley," She asked, a seductive Irish-Brooklyn accent thick in her voice.

"I didn't know hookers made house calls." He smirked and she frowned, furrowing her brow._ 'Smartass'_ she thought.

"Down girl," He retorted with a grin before a stout, portly man shoved the lanky blonde man out of the way and away from Ehren.

"You must be Taea Finnegan, I'm Jerry Riley."

"It's Ehren sir, Ehren Taea Finnegan." She corrected him politely as she shook his sweaty palm with a hint of disgust as she shed her gloves and held her hat and scarf in her hands.

"Okay Ehren, the asshole is Tommy Gavin, you'll have to get used to his mouth." Jerry said as he led her into his office away from on-lookers that'd gathered to see this woman. Was she going to be joining their ranks? Only a few stations nowadays had females on their crews.

"No offense sir but I am the youngest of seven, and I'm the only girl in my family. All brothers. I grew up with a silver tongue." She smiled a bit as Jerry and she got down to business over her transfer from Boston's department, her schedule, and need of gear for here. She was given her number, her badge, and her personal Nextel for communications.

"Tommy, Tommy get your ass over here." Jerry barked like a mad bulldog. He came up the stairs from the crypt and folded his arms. "Give her one of your duty shirts. I know you've got a million in your locker."

"Probie's being bold and starting today?" He was going to break her one way or another. He wasn't mean or anything, he just liked to mess with people.

"Don't fuck with me, go get one and give it to her for today. I'll warn you right now, don't come crying to me if she shoves her foot up your ass." Jerry walked off to do more paperwork and finalizing everything to make Ehren an addition to the roster for third rotation. Ehren could see through Tommy's charade and decided to play along and followed him down into the crypt and to the locker room.

"Here, smallest one I've got." He tossed it to her and she shed her peacoat. She had quite a body on her. Slender and curvy as she shed her Abercrombie collared shirt and put on his duty shirt. She was bold, changing right in front of him.

"You've got quite the attitude." He smiled to her. He had a feeling he was going to get along with her just fine.

"Will that be a problem?" Ehren eyed him curiously as she hung up her coat in her assigned locker and shoved her bag in there.

"So, you got a woman who can do the job better than the guys on my crew? Bring her on. You know? You got a Martian, or a cyborg, or a China man that can do the job, bring them on too."

"I'm still in the room retard," She scoffed, her eyes wandered to his locker door which had pictures of children on it. A teenager, a boy who maybe was twelve, and a little girl who was maybe seven. "Married are you?"

"Divorced. I was too emotionally distant blah, blah, blah or some bullshit like that. She took the kids and I only see them every other weekend. Even then my oldest thinks I'm a bastard." He yawned a little after he spoke. Ehren just studied it before digging into her bag and hung up one picture. A professionally done black and white one except for her eyes and the little girl's eyes she was holding.

"That your kid?"

"Used to be." She put up her boots, other amenities she'd need here and her black slacks. Tommy arched a brow in seriousness yet confusion. "She died when she was three, when her father's house went up in flames because he went to sleep with a cigarette in his hand."

"My only son, Connor, was killed a few months ago when a drunk driver killed him—" He began to speak but tones dropped and she ran up the stairs with Tommy in tow as they got into the bay and she took her old position as a driver for the Engine and put on a headset as they got rolling. They entered a suburb a few minutes away to find a teenage boy with his head stuck in a wrought-iron fence. It took a tub of Crisco and a jigsaw to free the stupid teenager.

"Hey new girl!" called another crewmate, named Kenny Lou Shea. "We're going to get a beer! You in or what?"

Ehren looked a little confused as she looked at her watch. _Getting hammered at three in the afternoon on the clock? What the hell are they thinking…_She shook her head. She didn't get drunk while she worked. What kind of example did she set if she got sloshed during work? Tommy watched her leave with the engine.

"Witty, sharp, unafraid, bold, and nice body. All those things aren't normally in one woman. All the women I've been with were gold diggers, including my ex-wife." He rubbed his chin before running a hand through his hair.

"What do you expect? All women want is money around here." Lou patted his friends shoulder as they headed for O'Brian's pub down the street. Ehren walked down the street around nine that night after cleaning up. Most of them were back but Tommy and Franco, another crewmate weren't. She entered the pub warily and already started getting cat calls from drunken men. She saw the two men standing on a table drinking beer.

"Tommy, Tommy what the hell are you doing?"

"Well hey there babe, want a drink? Put it on my tab!" He announced loudly as she rubbed her temples. Not even her first day and she had to deal with drunks. "I think you've had enough, you want to be transported for alcohol poisoning? Give me your car keys."

"Hell no, I'm sober enough to drive myself home!" Tommy slurred his words badly. Luckily Ehren could speak drunk.

"Then what's my name," She put her hands on her hips.

"Uh…"

"What's your station number?"

He thought for a moment then began to laugh, almost falling from the table until she caught him and got his keys out of his pocket. "I barely know you and I have to drive you home." She sighed a bit as he took a swing at her but she hit back hard, square in the jaw.

"Damn babe, you got an arm on you…" He shook his head to shake away the dizziness before she wailed him again, knocking him straight onto the floor. She shook her hand.

"Jesus man, you've got a thick jaw. I think you broke one of my knuckles." She gritted her teeth as she hiked him onto her shoulder. "Bartender, just bill Station 62!" she called as she went out the door and went down the street. It was amazing to a few people that she could carry a man twice her size down six blocks back to the station. Lou pointed out Tommy's red Dodge Pick-up to her and she laid him in the back and shook her head shamefully.  
She drove to her small one bedroom apartment in the Lower Eastside. Two miles from the station she'd walked. In Dublin she walked everywhere no matter how far. She'd learned to drive when she was nineteen and lived in Boston. She was only twenty-eight so hadn't been driving that long.

"I've been living here a week and working not even a full shift and I'm already mothering a drunken ass of a crewmate. Although he is a cutie," She looked on the brighter side. Ehren picked Tommy back up and went up one flight of stairs into her apartment. Lavishly decorated in a Celtic theme so she'd stay within her culture. She went back to her bedroom and laid him on her king sized bed and went into her bathroom and got some aspirin and put on her nightstand and a 'Pacific Oyster'. It was a drink that would bind with the alcohol in his system and sober him up right quick.  
She hung up her coat, hat, and scarf then slid off her boots. She grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants and black tank from her closet and shed her jeans and the borrowed duty shirt. She let her hair out of the braid and turned on her television and slept on her couch for the night. Around seven that morning she was awake and holding Tommy down who was fighting against her. Straddling his chest she forced him to drink the 'Pacific Oyster'.

"Tommy you've got to drink it! If you don't I swear to God I'll make your hangover a living hell!" She threatened and got the disgusting concoction into his mouth. "This is the least you could do after I had to knock you out, carry you six blocks, drive you to my apartment, and let you sleep in my bed."

"Then why did you do it!"

"To prevent any deaths I can since you were bombed. I like getting smashed as much as the next person but you took it too far. Whether you like it or not, we're crewmates and therefore we look out for each other." She said to him as he took the aspirin. "You owe me man,"

"I know, lower your voice. It's very grating." He kept his hands over his eyes as she shut off the lights and drew the curtains. She had to call Tommy in sick and herself. Damn her hospitable nature and her trusting persona. She curled up on her couch reading a rather large book, going over basic firefighting techniques as she answered the phone and talked to John for a few minutes, the Fire Commissioner, and a few other people that afternoon before the phone rang a fourth time and Tommy stumbled out from her bedroom and stood in the hallway as she heard her voice raise.

"I told you to stay away from me a long time ago…I don't care what you say! I will never forgive what you did you asshole, so stay away or I will get the police involved! I'm not afraid of you!" she threw the phone against the wall, making a large hole and a crack up to the ceiling as she got up, dropping her book. "Shit!" she looked at the hole. Her landlord would kill her if he saw what she'd done!

"Please tell me you weren't fighting with yourself,"

"Now's not the time to be a smartass," She sighed a bit stressfully as he looked at the damage and rubbed his eyes. "I can fix this…"

"You're hung over, you aren't fixing anything."

"Don't treat me like a drunk. Let me tell you something, sister, you serve two purposes in this relationship - you can give me a blow job or make me a sandwich. I'm not in the mood for head and I'm not hungry, so you're shit out of luck. I owe you, so I'll fix it and anything else that needs fixing. I'm a good handyman." He defended with hard eyes. She sighed a little and folded her arms and nodded a bit, giving in to him. "And…well as repayment for kicking my ass so I wouldn't hurt anybody, can I take you out sometime?"

"Whoever said we had a relationship!! You are so fucking lucky I don't knock you out for demeaning me like that. I do not live to serve anybody asshole so don't pull that. Maybe just maybe if I forgive you I'll let you take me out." She nodded a bit and the corners of his lips turned up in a smile. '_The harder I work, the luckier I goddamned get.'_ He thought

It did take some time for Ehren to get into the swing of things, four months if you want to get technical. In the duration of that time she'd become a bit hand-shy when someone would come up to her and didn't like to be surprised. Tommy took notice to this almost immediately. He looked out for Ehren slightly more than his other crewmates. He liked her, and still was waiting for her to let him take her out one night. She was sitting atop the engine rolling hose, her hair down today.

"What're you doing Francos' job for?"

"No reason." She spoke quickly as Tommy came around to the back and saw what her hair was veiling. The biggest black eye he'd ever seen.

"Ehren get down here."

"Why should I?"

"Because I have seniority over you now get down here…" He said as she climbed down and he carefully brushed the hair out of her face. "What the hell is that,"

"Yesterday I fell and hit my face into the side of the counter in my kitchen,"

"Don't lie to me Blondie, I know a black eye when I see it. Who hit you?"

"Just stay out of it! You aren't my boyfriend, my husband, my brother, or my dad!"

"Who fucking hit you Ehren!" He demanded to know. Ehren just turned her back to him and walked away. She sighed a little bit and bit her bottom lip hard as she leaned her head against her locker door. It felt good to have someone care enough about her to press to know who'd been whipping her ass. A gentle yet firm hand was put on her shoulder. "Let's at least get you cleaned up huh?"

"Okay," She choked a little and followed him into the kitchen and let her sit down in a chair. He pulled out a bottle and some cotton, putting the liquid onto the cotton and wiped it onto her bruise and the bruise began to disappear. Hazelnut oil had a compound in it that got rid of bruises. Tommy gently used his thumb to get rid of the tears that were leaking from her eyes.

"Who's doing this to you Ehren,"

"It doesn't matter now,"

"A person that does this to a pretty girl needs to get his ass beaten within an inch of his life. There's no golden ring at the end of the ride... it's all bullshit."

She was quiet. Her heart fluttered as she listened to him talk as she fidgeted with her hands. "Can…can you fix one more thing Tommy? Please?"

"Put another hole in your wall again?" He folded his arms after setting the cotton and the bottle down.

"No, Can you fix this broken heart of mine?"

Tommy was surprised by her question. How **do** you fix a broken heart? It took him a moment to think for a minute. He couldn't just be silent and refuse her an answer but he really didn't know how. "Well, I can try Ehren."

She stood up from the chair and threw her arms around his waist as she pressed her face into his chest. Instinctively he held his arms out in the air, taking a step back as she hugged him. Even though it was painful she needed some kind of comfort. He was a bit hesitant but he slowly put his arms around her. Was this what he wanted? He sighed a bit as he gently rubbed her back. "I'm going to ask you one last time, who hit you Ehren?" His voice was soft and gentle, not demanding and loud.

"My last ex-boyfriend who followed me from Boston," She said into his chest as Tommy rested a hand behind her head. He'd protect her with every fiber of his being. It was hard to believe that four months ago they were fighting rivals.

"How about we clock out early, and we go down to Lime nightclub on 314th?" He said changing the subject and felt her nod. She could get smashed and dance her problems away with her crush, Tommy. "I'll drive you home okay? Then come pick you up around nine okay?"

"Okay." She nodded a bit and broke away from his embrace, blushing madly. As promised they punched out after fighting a structure fire. She did her hair up in twists and curls, doing her make-up. She slid on a green ruffled mini-skirt and a white tank top with her matching green bra playing peek-a-boo. She buckled her white heels and got up, taking a few minutes to get used to the height. It may be cold outside but it would be really, really hot inside the club from all the bodies. Tommy had on a green tank top, open black button up shirt and black jeans and his hair spiked. To get into Lime you had to be wearing some kind of green.  
It didn't take long for both of them to get smashed on cocktails alone. The music was a rave/ hip-hop remixes. They were currently dancing to the remix of 'Party like a Rockstar'. Everyone was bumping and grinding including the two crewmates except Ehren's judgment was clouded and she was up on him as they danced, lips locked together in a passionate kiss. His hands held her hips as they moved to the beat, lips never leaving one another until the song ended.

"I…I think that you've had enough!" Ehren slurred a little. Tommy grinned a drunken grin.

"You're the one slurring your words…let's call a cab…" He dipped his head down and received another kiss and Ehren granted him one as they were escorted by the bouncers to the cab. They went instead of her apartment to his house out on Mangrove Boulevard, fifteen minutes from the station. Nice neighborhood altogether that he lived in. Tommy was sober enough to unlock the house and stumbled around, his hand clasped in Ehren's as he pressed her against the shut door, kissing her again, her arms looping around his neck. This felt right to her as they continued to deepen their seemingly never-ending lip lock.  
In the morning Ehren's head was pounding as she kept her eyes shut and rolled over, feeling something warm and smooth. Skin? She open one eye halfway and saw Tommy's back to her. Slowly she sat up and realized she wasn't decent and drew the sheet around her. Everything was one big blur last night she didn't remember much that had happened at Lime or the aftermath. She found as aspirin bottle in her nightstand drawer and popped a few with a sighed as Tommy rolled over, still asleep. She laid her head on his strong chest as she got comfortable. Why should she worry? She had the day off today. She got up and found her clothes strewn across the room. Lazily she picked up Tommy's black button-up shirt and put it on along with her panties and ruffled her hair as she moved into the kitchen, struggling to make coffee with all the noise she was making, her head throbbing in pain.

"I am so hung-over," she rubbed her eyes and sat on the counter, sipping coffee as heavy footfall caught her attention and she saw Tommy come out with his head bowed even though the lights were off.

"My head hurts so bad," He said as she handed him a cup of coffee as he came over the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her chest, beneath her chin. She ran a hand softly through his hair.

"We're both lucky we have a day off."

"I know, I couldn't go in hung over." Ehren nodded a bit as she sighed a little and finished her coffee.

"I never would've thought you'd be mine." He said into her chest before looking up at her and gave her a kiss softly until Tommy's pager began to beep, making the new couple cringe as he went over and looked at it.

"Guess what?"

"Hm?"

"We have to go in, fully engulfed building down on 42nd. Total unit recall."

She sighed a little bit and got down off the counter. "My stuff is back at station so let's get a move on." She nodded as they got dressed and headed down to the station and got their gear, got onto the Engine and headed to the building. A man was standing on the edge of a window, flames erupting from around him. Tommy, Franco, Lou, Sean, and Ehren were on top of the building. Ehren took off her turnout coat as they rigged her with climbing gear and she began to scale the building.

"Lower Sean, keep going!" She called up as the three men directed Sean while he let slack in the rope, feet braced against the fence of the roof as he let out slack. The frightened civilian was looking down at the trucks and the people gathered 8 stories below and he gripped the window, beginning to panic. Ehren halted the rope and got the man to come closer to her.

"You'll be okay, just hold onto me." She said to him but the man took that as an invitation and jumped onto her, holding for dear life as the rope jerked and slipped, Sean, Franco and Lou grabbing the slack as Tommy looked over the side. The man was shrieking and flailing.

"Don't let me die! I don't want to die!!" He sobbed as she tried to control him.

"Stop squirming or I swear to God I'll drop you!!" She snapped and began to scale, going lower as she got closer to a window and smashed through it, letting him go as another crew got the man and Ehren, unhooking her from the rigging.

"She's in." Tommy nodded as they took apart the climbing gear and gathered the bags.

"Hey Tommy boy, someone said that they saw you at Lime last night with Blondie,"

"Yeah, what of it lard-O?" He said, referring to Lou. Lou grinned.

"Get some last night?"

"When's the last time you got laid Lou? When disco died?"

"Nice one smartass." Lou frowned a little as he carried rope on his shoulder. Tommy chuckled as he followed them down the stairs to put the equipment back on the truck. Ehren had shards of glass brushed out of her hair and a small butterfly bandage on her forehead from the glass otherwise she was fine. Mike patched her up with a shaky hand as Tommy came over.

"Glory whore."

"Whatever, you can't talk because I had you begging for salvation all night long," She teased him with a wink. "So who's the glory whore now?"

"I'm shaking in my boots." He teased her as he got up to roll hose. As he climbed onto the top of the truck he noticed a face in the crowd. Sheila. His eyes hardened a little as he began rolling up the hose.

"Finished with my wife are ya?" came a voice from next to him. Jimmy.

"Been finished with her a long time Jim, she needs to quit stalking me." He said to the dead man. For the longest time he'd been able to see the dead and Jimmy was always there.

"Bagged yourself quite a catch. What is she…Swedish? Scandinavian?"

"She's Irish," He corrected as he finished. "Why, why are you talking to me now?"

"You've got a new toy and I've got no one to haunt." Jimmy laughed a bit.

"Tommy? Tommy who are you talking to?" Ehren called up as he looked down.

"Someone over channel, I think it was the Chief. Don't worry about it," He said, narrowly escaping that bullet as they headed back to station. Ehren was all over the television after that daring rescue. She sat in Tommy's lap as she sipped a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Hey numb nuts did you skip the lesson about dating your co-worker?" Sean asked as he sat down across from them.

"When your co-worker is a knockout babe like this, wouldn't you want to tap it?" Tommy asked him with a mix of seriousness and just being a jerk. Sean blinked a bit and just thought for a moment.

"Well…"

"You would wouldn't you?"

"I guess…" It didn't really matter. Him and Tommy hadn't really been getting along that well since Sean was romantically involved with his ex-wife Janet. Sheila came in to the bay area were the trucks were and saw Mike.

"Mike, Michael." She barked and he looked up.

"Hi Sheila, what can I do for you?"

"Where's Gavin…"

"In the kitchen, wh—"

"I want him out here. Now." She demanded. Sheila had become a very nasty and cold-hearted bitch since Tommy left her. If she didn't get what she wanted or get what she thought was rightfully hers, she'd stop at nothing to get it. Mike was a little afraid of Sheila as he skirted her and went into the kitchen.

"Uh Tom?"

"What Sirrelli?"

"Sh-Sheila wants to talk to you, in the bay…"

"Oh boy," He sighed as Ehren got off him and he went to speak with her. She tapped her foot as she waited. Ehren peered out at them. She was dressed like a slut. Short mini skirt, hooker heels, and a tank top were her breasts almost fell out. "What Sheila,"

"Who is she,"

"Who?"

"The bitch you're cheating on me with, I saw you two today, don't lie."

"Sheila I want nothing to do with you anymore okay? Now leave."

"Not now until you break it off with that little blonde skank!" She raised her voice like a screeching banshee. Ehren rolled her eyes and came out to him.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah you little slut stay away from my Tommy!" She got in her face but Ehren was cool about it.

"Mmk, you see that's were you're wrong. People are not property but I guess when you're the type of woman who jumps onto anything with a pulse and a penis then you would think of people as your property so I suggest that you step the fuck off before you get hurt." Ehren had her own way of dealing with problems and that was firing them up enough to start a fight.

"Tommy are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

"Yeah I am." He folded his arms tightly. Sheila angrily stomped away, turning back to see them kiss before heading back into the kitchen. That blonde girl had to go, one way or another! On the way home Ehren picked up some clothes to keep at Tommy's whilst she did his laundry and cleaned.  
Tommy was sitting in a chair in the living room, thinking for awhile. He'd narrowly escape the house fire Sheila had set and kept trying to get her away, same with Janet. Would Ehren get used to these two women hounding her? She was a strong woman, and could defend herself like she'd done to Sheila.

"Ehren,"

"Yeah babe,"

"Can you come here?" He called as she wiped her hands off and came in, getting into his lap.

"You rang?"

"What happened today with Sheila…"

"Don't worry about it okay? I'm not surprised women are still attached to you even though you're an ill-tempered, self destructive, hypocritical, manipulative man, and a relapsed alcoholic." Ehren smiled and gave him a kiss.

"Wow, I love you too." He said sarcastically as he kissed her back. She giggled a bit as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What exactly did Sheila do to you?"

Tommy sighed a little, not exactly happy about explaining everything. He told her about the initial affair, then Sheila drugging him for sex, the pregnancy and the miscarriage.

"If she was supposed to love you she wouldn't have drugged and lied to you." She said and nuzzled on his neck. Tommy leaned his head a bit and let her nuzzle before the phone rang. He didn't answer it as he dipped his head to find Ehren's lips and kiss her. Where had she been all his life?

'Tommy it's Janet. We need to talk, Sheila called me and told me what happened today.' Was the message left on the machine and Tommy sighed, leaving Ehren on the couch now who covered herself with a blanket. In the next room Ehren could hear Tommy talking to Janet over the phone. Janet had moved to Manhattan with the kids. She'd miscarried with his baby when Sheila trapped him in that burning house in Staten Island. Ehren sat up and put her clothes back on and went out to the kitchen where Tommy was, his boxers and shorts back on as she came over and kissed on his neck as he talked, leant against him.

Changes had been made to the home after Ehren had moved in with Tommy three months later. Sheila had fought Ehren twice and tried to rape Tommy when Ehren wasn't home and he was working in the yard. Now they had a ordered a restraining order against her but everyday she was there across the street just stalking, waiting for the six months to expire so she could go after Ehren again. Walls inside had been repainted, redecorated and new furniture it looked like a very plush house. They had married a month ago and Ehren was in the process of getting everything changed from Ehren Finnegan to Ehren Gavin.

"Tommy," She called from the office. He peered in, hair slicked since he just got out of the shower.

"What?"

"What time are you going on tonight?"

"Six, Franco's going to stay home with his kid and Lou's going to court since that hooker conned him then croaked. If Maggie calls tell her to piss off."

"Why?"

"She's bankrupt, foreclosed on, and married to an idiot and she'll do anything for money. That's what she's been calling me, Timo, and Rosemarie for. Thank god Johnny's dead god rest'm." He pulled on a t-shirt.

"Ah, by the way, can I clean out that one room we store your shit in?"

"Need an exercise room now?" He came in and gave her a kiss with a smile.

"No, more like a nursery."

"What are you saying…you're pregnant? I thought something was up when you stopped drinking with all of us." He pulled her to her feet and kissed her softly. She smiled. Things were looking up ever since they'd begun dating six months ago. His alcoholism and post traumatic stress disorder were in remission and he'd stopped crying randomly but he still saw the dead but didn't have the guilt.

"I'm three months pregnant, and I won't take maternity until my fifth month, deal?" Ehren was very persuasive to get her way with Tommy. He couldn't say no to her and those beautiful green eyes. He ran a hand down her back as he kissed her softly again.

"Deal baby." He nodded a bit and cupped her cheek with his hand for another kiss. He'd never been happier in his life that he was now with Ehren and their baby on the way. He combed his hair and put on his uniform.

"How hot is it supposed to be today?" He asked her from the bathroom.  
"93 degrees for the high, 72 for the low."

"Shit…" He whined as he put on his uniform. "You're lucky Jerry's so lenient on letting you take the early morning shift! When it's my shift, it's so hot outside I have to put deodorant on my balls."

"Whatever you big whiner, be careful okay? And whatever you do, don't let Sean con you into trying on his boots, they're full of icy-hot."

"You're such a bitch. I love you." He smiled and grabbed his bag, taking the Dodge. Ehren typed on her computer as she checked on her stocks before hearing footfall.

"Tommy? Baby?" she blinked and went downstairs and saw blonde hair before she flinched at the sound of rapid gunfire and searing pain in her body. Clicking of heels was all she heard as she slid down the wall, feeling her shirt grow wet with blood. A neighbor called 911 after hearing the gunfire. Tones dropped at the 62's as everyone scrambled.

'**Squad 62 Engine 62 please respond to 16932 Mangrove Boulevard for a 29 year old female with multiple gun shot wounds to the chest, neck, abdomen. Scene is secure at 18:45.'** Was the initial dispatch that made Tommy about lose his mind.

"Gavin ain't that your house!?" Jerry hollered from the Engine.

"Someone shot my wife!" Tommy said in panic as they got rolling. Police were already there. Paramedics from a private company had responded since they were in the area and began treating her for three gun shot wounds. One in her chest, one in her abdomen, and one in her neck. Tommy nearly got run-over as he jumped out of the truck and ran over to the stretcher.

"Ehren! Ehren!!" he ran up but was stopped by officers. "Get the fuck off me! That's my wife!! She's pregnant!"

"Tommy? What happened?" came a voice from behind him. His ex-wife Janet, who was looking a little smug.

"What the hell are you doing here…" He snapped angrily.

"I came by to see you since the kids were wondering about how their father was doing."

"How am I doing? How the fuck do you think I'm doing! Your face is in mine, Ehren's been shot and now I have to talk to you," He was an inch close to ripping his hair out. He didn't want to talk to Janet, he didn't want to listen to her screech like a banshee about how much of a bastard he was since she blamed him for Connor's death.

"That's a shame," She said in a fake voice which he saw right through.

"Let me see your hands,"

"Why?"

Tommy forced her hands apart, palms up. They were black. "What the hell is this!"

"It's not what you think Tommy,"

"It looks like gun powder residue. Been shooting a gun lately?" He snarled, smacking her hands and she yelped. Not just residue, but powder burns on Janet's hands. "You shot her didn't you, you bitch! You just won't be fucking happy until I'm on the edge of insanity!"

"Sheila gave me $10,000 to shoot Ehren and kill her, then she'd give me $20,000 more." Janet ratted. Tommy's eyes narrowed. He really didn't want to deal with this, he needed to be with Ehren, and hope that the baby was okay. A police officer took Janet into custody as he got a police escort to the hospital.

"Excuse me but what room is Ehren Gavin in?"

"She's still in surgery, it'll be another four hours until she will be shipped into intensive care." The nurse at the desk said and Tommy immediately began pacing. Not long after he got there Sean, Mike, Franco and Jerry were there.

"How's 'Ren?" Jerry asked with concern for his underling.

"Still in surgery. Sheila gave Janet money to kill her."

The men began to converse when a surgeon came out to talk with Tommy, who spun around. "Tell me she's okay,"

"Amazingly yes she will be. We managed to remove the bullets in her chest without any problem and the fetus is perfectly fine, but the one in her neck severed one of her voice chords. We managed to repair it but she won't be able to talk for up to three weeks."

"Thank god." Tommy sighed a little. "Can I see her?"

"Of course." He nodded and Tommy headed down the corridor and saw her asleep on the bed, the anesthetic hadn't worn off yet. He ran a hand through her hair softly. How dare Sheila do this to Ehren. He leaned over and ran a hand through her hair.

"How long has it been since you got yourself shitfaced Tommy and did my wife?"

"Would you get the hell over it Jimmy? You've been dead for three years and Sheila tried to kill Ehren, go have her commit suicide or something!" Tommy snapped towards the ghost of his cousin. He turned his attention back to his unconscious wife. He'd changed in Jimmy's eyes since he married Ehren, and that was a good thing. Tommy was a respectable husband of a beautiful Irish woman who would have his baby in six months, next January to be exact. He was no longer the boozing, womanizing pompous ass Jimmy remembered him as.  
In three days Ehren was awake and talking through pen and paper to Tommy and the guys. She watched training drills through a live web feed courtesy of Franco. Today Tommy brought her some Chinese food.

"I brought you Chinese food beautiful." He said as she wrote down something and he looked over.

'Are you trying to make me fat?'

"No but that kid will."

'Smartass.' She wrote with a scowl-smile.

"But you're married to this smartass didn't you…now you're trapped."

'This is a life sentence without parole that I can actually enjoy.' She wrote before beginning to eat the Chow mein he'd brought her as he munched on General Tso Chicken with fried rice.

"So Probie decides to bitch about how hard we are on him, and you know how you told me about that powder bomb thing that you did to a guy in Boston? Well we did it and I'm lifting weights with Sean and Franco when 'BAM' rocks the house and we just bust out laughing and he comes out covered in the powder, then we made him clean the entire locker room!" Tommy laughed a little bit and Ehren smiled. She finished her food and leaned back a little bit.

'Are you angry at me?' she wrote down and showed him.

"Why would I be angry at you Ehren?"

'For not protecting myself,'

"Babe it is not your fault that Sheila employed Janet to kill you. Both women are going to jail for awhile. If you want to get gun-trained then I can get you in sometime in the near future. In the meantime, you're to get your voice healed, the baby growing, and making us men look bad at the station." He said and got up. "I have to get back to work but Sean or Franco should be here soon to keep you company. I love you." He kissed her cheek before leaving the hospital to get to work. Ehren let a hand rest on her stomach as he left. God she loved him.

In three months Ehren was fully recovered from the shooting. She was home by herself tonight since she took second shift and Tommy was working graveyard shift. She sighed a little as she balanced finances and glanced at the clock; 2:18 a.m. She'd been suffering from insomnia for quite some time but it was apart of her pregnancy. She leaned back in the chair with a sigh and placed a hand on her abdomen, three more months to go before birthing Tommy's new son. Her attention shifted when she heard the truck pull up outside and the door shut. Tommy was home, and he wasn't due off duty until 6 a.m.

"Tommy?" She headed downstairs and into the kitchen then coughed, covering her nose. "Sweet chocolate Jesus! You smell like booze!"

"I had a drink at Shepherds'," He said drunkenly.

"You had more than a drink Tommy! Because when you reek of Jaegermeister, silicon, and cheap whores you've had too much to drink!" She exclaimed before Tommy hit her hard, knocking her back a few feet against the wall. She took the blows, not making a scene. It wasn't worth fighting when Tommy couldn't tell an oboe from an elbow.

"Woman don't EVER tell me what to do!" He snarled.

"Just remember baby, I love you." She slugged him hard, enough to knock him out cold and onto the floor. She cringed and cradled her hand as she went up the stairs and picked up the phone to call Jerry and tell him Tommy was home and she would cover the rest of his shift. It only took her a few minutes to put on her "maternity uniform" and head to the station, a bruise forming on her face. Sean was busy restocking the ambulance when he saw her come on.

"What the hell happened Ehren!"

"It's nothing Sean, Tommy got bombed."

"And he beat you?"

"He just hit me, and he was drunk. I knocked him out and I think I broke these two knuckles. Can you set and wrap my hand?"

"Sure, sure." He guided her to the cot and began to wrap it but he couldn't help be angry. How dare he hit her, a pregnant woman. Around seven that morning Tommy warily came in with sunglasses over his eyes. Out of nowhere Sean attacked him, bulldozing him straight into the concrete bay floor.

"Sean get off him!" Ehren yelled as Franco and Lou broke them apart, Jerry keeping them apart.

"What the fuck was that for!" Tommy demanded, fighting for Lou to let him go.  
"For hitting Ehren! Shit man she's pregnant!" Sean snapped in fury.

Tommy didn't remember hitting but remembered yelling, then darkness. His alcoholism had relapsed already, he'd struck his wife. What would he do if he lost both his wife and child? Tones dropped and soon the station was empty except for Tommy and Ehren.

"Did…I…"Tommy reached out and put a hand on her cheek. She didn't even flinch.

"Don't get all spongy and weepy, I've been in too many bar fights and gotten punched that it doesn't bother me that much. You didn't even know what you were doing did you?"

He shook his head shamefully before she gave him a kiss. "I'm fine okay?" She reassured. Later that morning Tommy didn't leave her side as she went to see Dr. Edlebright to check up on the baby. He loved children deeply but Janet ripped away part of his heart when Janet took his two daughters from him. Nobody would take away these children.

"There's your beautiful boy Mrs. Gavin, nice and strong." Commented the doctor before she felt a bit of pain and then the doctors expression changed. This worried both parents.

"Is everything okay?" Tommy arched a brow before she gripped Tommy's hand and cried out in pain. She was going into labor. Doctor Edlebright called the code as Tommy was forced out by two orderlies.

"No let me go!" He thrashed like an alligator in a death roll against the two orderlies.

"Please…I want him here…with me." Ehren begged as she had a contraction and reached out to Tommy. She needed him now more than ever. Tommy thrust the men off him and quickly went to Ehren's side as they wheeled her down to the maternity ward. In a few short hours she birthed Jaiden Markus Gavin. He was immediately taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She was upset, the worst thing had happened to her. Would he be okay? He was only eleven inches long and little under five pounds.

"It's okay Ehren," He ran a hand over her head before Dr. Edlebright came to him, then the men went outside to talk.

"I'm utterly baffled Mr. Gavin."

"Wh-why what's wrong with my son?"

"Nothing, that's the problem. He's just very fragile and we will have to keep him here until he is well enough to be able to taken home."

Tommy sighed in relief. October 2, his sons' birthday would now be a day he'd never forget. "When will Ehren be able to go home, tomorrow?"

"In a few days to make sure there isn't any complications."

Tommy went back to Ehren and laid in the bed with her. She was asleep and he brushed his fingers through her soft white blonde hair. Tommy could remember this same incident happening with Connor. He didn't want her to beat herself up for something out of her control. What was amazing was he'd never been this close to a woman, not even Janet, and he liked it.

"Ehren's an amazing and strong woman to deal with this, of course you're son is a Gavin and he would cause a woman pain at some point in his life." Jimmy commented.

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"You beat her once, you impregnated her, made her go through childbirth, and she's had to break her hands twice to stop you from hurting others." Jimmy shrugged.

"Blow me!" Tommy snapped before Ehren shifted a bit. He got up and went into NICU to see his little boy. He was able to touch him with the gloves inside the incubator. Jaiden had his mothers' spirit, staying strong and fighting to hang on. Tommy touched his little head. "My little survivor."  
62's rejoiced for the birth of the new Gavin addition but prayed he'd pull through. Ehren never left her son through her own recovery, afraid she'd lose him. New mother worries that Tommy and learned to cope with but he was always at her side. She'd been stricken with reoccurring nightmares of Jaiden dying. She'd sob randomly like working or brushing her teeth and Tommy realized that she was reflecting what had happened to him. The survivor guilt he'd gone through, the alcohol, crying suddenly, and seeing the ghosts of people he couldn't save, like Jimmy. He knew what she was going through. Day after day she'd break down but he was there to lift her up and be her support. In one month she was finally able to hold her son for the first time, and another two months passed before he was finally home and healthy.

"He's got those brown Gavin eyes," Tommy smirked as Ehren held him.

"And tufts of white blonde hair…I think that he'll follow in his fathers footsteps."

"He shouldn't, no need to revisit that road. I don't want him to be like I used to be. Janet used to tell me…when Connor was killed, I could rescue a little girl I didn't know from the third floor of a burning building but I couldn't even save my own son. I won't let anything happen to Jaiden and protect him like I couldn't Connor."

"Nothing will happen to Jaiden. You aren't the man you used to be." Ehren gave him a kiss. Tommy gently ran a hand over is sons' head. He was proud of Ehren and himself for pulling through this hardship, and Jaiden for fighting to live. The doorbell rang, making Jaiden shift in his mothers' arms as Tommy got up and jogged down the stairs in his shorts and opened the door. He was dog piled by the crew before Ehren came down the stairs in her tank top and sorts with the newborn in her arms.

"There's the new mom, and the spawn of Tommy itself. Hey little guy," Franco gave her a shoulder hug. Sean, Mike, Lou, and Jerry gathered to see Tommy's son who didn't take well to the attention and fussed, beginning to cry. "Here, here let me hold'm." Sean said.

She gently and hesitantly let Sean hold Jaiden after Sean sat down. Jaiden didn't like the unfamiliar arms and wailed louder until Ehren took him back and upstairs to nurse him, letting the boys be boys.

"I don't think you're cut out for kids Sean," Mike commented.

"Why!?" Sean was offended.

"Maggie don't want them, you're a retard according to Chief Perrolli, and if you managed to piss my kid off then you ain't making the cut Jack." Tommy opened a brew, offering them to the others.

"Just because of that one incident I'm labeled retarded! I'm not, I just don't think before I do something," Sean didn't bring up the fact he'd knocked up his wife, Tommy's sister Maggie.

"Sean, Chief Perrolli needed you to bring him a box, and you nearly brought him a bag. Seriously, out of 100,000 sperm inside your mother and you were the fastest?" Tommy began to laugh, then the room erupted in laughter as Sean turned brick red.

"Anyways, Tommy, I need you and your wife to talk to a class in a few weeks." Jerry brought Tommy away from the men.

"I don't know how long she'll part from the baby…but are these boys just dickin' around and need some sense scared into them?"

"Tom…one asked what 343 meant…" Jerry murmured to him. That made Tom royally pissed off. Any fireman, especially New York Fireman should know what 343 was! How could someone say something that stupid!

"Okay, I'll talk to Ehren."

"Atta boy!" Jerry patted his back before returning to the group. That evening Tommy was laying in bed with Jaiden snuggled and asleep in the chest.

"Hey baby…"

"Hm?"

"We've got a class to lecture in a few days,"

"Why?"

"Let's put it this way, they don't know what 343 is."

Ehren sighed a little, not wanting to really talk about the class. "Are my breasts bigger?" She looked at herself in the mirror. Granted she knew she'd given birth but this wasn't normal bigger.

"What happens if I say yes?"

"I have to think about it…" She smirked a little. He got up and laid Jaiden down in his bassinette as Ehren brushed her hair. He went in and put his hands on her hips and began kissing her neck. She smiled a bit and leaned back against him.  
In the morning she was downstairs with Jaiden, sitting at the table nursing him as she nibbled on pieces of a peeled orange. Tommy was dressed for work as he came downstairs.

"Can you get me two aspirin Tommy?" She asked in a begging tone.

"Have a headache?"

"No my hips hurt,"

Tommy just grinned boyishly as he gave her the pills and kissed her softly, then kissed the top of their sons head. "I'll be home around four okay?"

"Okay, I love you." She said as he left. She laid Jaiden down in the cradle in the living room. She needed to call the court and get the restraining order renewed against Sheila but she was going to take advantage of this opportunity. Sheila came in through the back door quietly with a rag to strangle Ehren. No one was going to take Tommy from her. Ehren fought back as Sheila came up and began strangling her, trying to grab and stab Sheila with anything her hands could grab. Jaiden began wailing and crying at the noise. Tommy had forgotten his radio by a stroke of luck and heard the struggle and his sons wailing.

"Die already! This is what you get for stealing my boy toy!" Sheila snarled. Tommy hauled ass inside and tackled Sheila to free his wife. Ehren took a big gasp of air as she staggered up and Tommy held Sheila down.

"How dare you attack my family!" He shouted and brought her to her feet by her hair and slammed her against the wall. Ehren's neck had a darkening bruise around it as she went to pacify Jaiden. Before her life she would always put Jaiden's. Tommy held them both as he called the police to come and take Sheila away. Sheila went kicking and screaming as she was put into a cop car.

"Thank god you and Jaiden are safe." He said and kissed her forehead softly before cradling this son.

"Ten hut!" barked an instructor as a class of potential firemen stood at attention. Upperclass students close to graduating but they'd been dickin' around. In a period of two months they'd scared sense into five classes, and this would be the sixth. Ehren's hair was in a high pony tail, eyes cold, arms crossed over her chest.

"This isn't a hamburger stand ladies, this is the real deal and people really die. You all are a bunch of snot nosed punks who need to just go back home to mama. No one's gonna hold your hand anymore! Some of you will crack under pressure and that's when people die. Having a bad day? Get the fuck out. There are no bad days in this business. I'm not a hero, I'm a firefighter. There aren't medals on my chest! You don't get medals so those of you looking for glory can take step back," Ehren barked almost immediately. A few snickered.

"You got something to say shithead?" Tommy snapped.

"No I just…"

"Just what asshole!? Just because I'm a woman I can't tell you shit? Let me tell you something boy I've got bigger stones than you'll ever have!" She got into his face before Tommy took over and paced a bit, being silent.

"I'm not the typical smoke eater. Granted I do have a wife and a four month old son," He motioned to Ehren when he mentioned his wife. "But I was there on 9/11. My closest friends and the best goddamn firemen I knew were killed. I've seen it all. I knew sixty men who gave their lives at Ground Zero. Sixty. Four from my own house. Vito Castella…found him almost whole. Ricky Davis…found him almost whole hugging a civilian woman. Bobby Vincent…found his head. And my cousin, Jimmy Keefe, my best friend. You know what they found of him? What I was able to bring back and give to his parents? A finger. That's all. A finger. These four men were better human beings and better firefighters than any of you will ever be." He spat at them before Ehren took over.

"Uptown, downtown, Harlem, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Bronx, The Projects, We are not in business of making heroes. We're in the business of discovering cowards. That's what you are if you can't take the heat. You're a pussy, and there ain't no room in the FDNY for pussies. You all better pray you don't get into my house because the only one I baby is my four month old, understand!?"

"Ma'am yes Ma'am!" They barked.

"Say _Thank You_ firefighting upper class!" the Instructor yelled.

"Thank you Firefighter Gavin Ma'am! Thank you Firefighter Gavin Sir!" They filed out. Tommy sighed a little bit as Franco came out with a crying Jaiden. He obviously didn't like Franco. Ehren went over to him and took Jaiden into her arms.

"Sean was making these messed up faces to get him to stop, then he cried harder."

Tommy rolled his eyes as he watched his wife and son as she rocked him. "Here," He opened his arms to his son as she gently passed him to Tom, before the bell began to ring. They scrambled and Tommy protected Jaiden from the loud noise as Ehren suited up and got into the Engine.

'**Station 62, Station 66, Station 72, Ladder 55, Station 11, respond to Vine and Orchard office complex for a four alarm structure fire. The East building, reference flames showing and people reportedly trapped on the fourth floor at 14:14.'** Came the dispatcher over the loudspeaker as they rolled. Tommy tried to stop Ehren as she mouthed 'I love you' before they disappeared. The building was engulfed in smoke and lashed with flames. Six stories and it had become increasingly unstable.

"Let's move! Let's move!" Jerry shouted as they began to start lines to battle with this beast. Sean dragged line with Lou behind him as Franco busted down the doors. Two hose teams began suppressing flames so they could get in. Mike and Ehren under the Ladder to get to the fourth floor and evacuated the trapped people but there were opening in the floor from fire and flames danced. Mike had the hose line they'd dragged up and went far, not watching how he stepped.

"Mike get back!" She grabbed him by his pack and thrust him back before the building groaned and suddenly she disappeared. Mike was in shock as he scrambled over to the large whole. She'd dropped to the second floor. Fire blazed around her and she was out. Mike quickly doused the flames and doused her so she wouldn't catch fire.

"I need a team up on the second floor! Ehren's down!" Mike said into his radio. Franco and Sean looked at each other before Lou looked at them.

"Let's go goddammit! You wanna tell Tommy he has to raise his boy alone and bury his wife?!!" Lou snarled before they scrambled to the second floor. Tommy was at home, doing laundry after putting Jaiden down for a nap. He turned on the news, seeing them reporting the four alarm.

'_**We have confirmed reports that there has been a collapse inside the structure and one firefighter has been injured. Sources say Firefighter Ehren Gavin of Engine 62 dropped two floors after a hole opened under her feet which might have been unsurvivable.'**_ A reporter spoke, making Tommy freeze. He thought she was dead as he put a hand to his mouth then balling into a fist and punched the wall as tears flowed down his cheeks.

"No no no no…Ehren…" He slid to the floor before Jimmy appeared sitting on the washer.

"Crying over spilt milk."

"My wife's dead and that's all you can say!?" He yelled in fury.

"She isn't dead…yet."

"What?"

"I watch over her as much as I do you dumbass. She saved your stupid probie who is a complete dipshit. If she didn't grab him, he wouldn't have survived the fall. You can't live without her Tommy and I don't want to see you turn back into what you used to be. I saved her from death, but I don't know about injuries."

"How can a ghost save a living person?"

"I'm what you call a guardian angel for your family. Me, Vito, Ricky, and your boy."

"Then how come I can only see you?"

"Because I'm stuck here and they're upstairs." He rolled his eyes.

Tommy looked around in a panic then to the television. Sean and Franco were helping Ehren out as she hobbled a little. She'd escaped with only a twisted ankle and a few bruises. He put a hand over his heart. Since the terrorist attacks, he'd never been so scared. He saw the ambulance load her up and head toward the direction of the nearest hospital, University. A kind neighbor offered to watch Jaiden as he headed down to the hospital, light bar flashing and sirens blaring as he tore down the highway. The entire crew was in the hall as Tommy came in.

"Where is she!"

"Right there," Sean pointed as she limped down the hall. Tommy tore down the call and tightly hugged her as she hugged him back, latching onto him.

"Ehren…"He felt fresh tears well in his eyes. "I thought I was going to lose you!"

"I thought I was dead, I thought I'd never see you or Jaiden again." She said into his shoulder. Mike looked at them gratefully. If she hadn't pulled him, they'd have a fatality. He owed her his life. Sean and Franco had a nickname for her now.

Guardian.

"Sean that's a 1 1/2 inch not a 2 inch! Don't make dumbass mistakes!" barked Ehren as she directed. She'd been bumped to Captain a year after the structure fire accident. Her once slender body was heavy with pregnancy. Three more months and she would give birth to her second child, another little boy. Jaiden was a year old and didn't understand yet but he'd learned to point and say 'baby'. He had light blonde hair like his mother and deep green eyes like his father.  
Tommy held Jaiden in his arms as they watched her do training. Sean was being re-evaluated with the graduates from the academy.

"Mommy!" Jaiden squealed as he squirmed happily.

"Whoa champ, Mom's working." Tommy settled the boy. He and Ehren in their marriage had only one fight and that was after her accident. He didn't want her working anymore but she still wanted to and refused to stop. Their feud had ended when she became pregnant.

"Mamamama…"Jaiden babbled a she was relieved by another captain. On the back of her uniform under 'Gavin' was 'Guardian'. They'd taken to calling her that nowadays.

"Do you need your mama little man?" She took him into her arms as he hugged onto her. Tommy smiled softly.

"Have you picked out a name for the baby?"

"Diezel Jonathan or Carmine Walker."

"I Like Carmine Walker." He smiled before giving him a kiss. They'd be full term babies, due on July 4. They'd just celebrated their third wedding anniversary and now they'd be celebrating their second child's birth.

"Mommy…hungry…"Jaiden whined before Tommy took him back into his arms.

"How about some lunch?" He looked to his son before he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"I'm in the mood for pizza," Ehren said with a smile.

"Then I'll order some." Tommy nodded. She was fatigued as she got into the truck and leaned back. Tommy strapped Jaiden in.

"Want me to rub your feet when we get home?"

"That'd be nice."

On July 4, at 8:02 pm, Tommy became the proud father of his second son Carmine Walker Gavin. Twelve hours of labor. Tommy laid in the hospital bed with her as he held his son, his tiny had wrapped around Tommy's finger. Ehren's head was leaned on Tommy's shoulder with a smile. A nurse brought in Jaiden for them and placed him on the bed.

"Jaiden, this is your brother Carmine." Tommy said to him. Jaiden was curious of the pink thing in his fathers' arms.

"Bub?" He pointed to Carmine and Ehren smiled an exhausted smile.

"That's right Jai, that's your brother." She said before laying back.

"Momma…"He reached out to her and she smiled toward her son.

"Come here my little man," She yawned exhaustedly as a nurse took Carmine to get baths, printed, etc. Tommy put Jaiden down on the bed as he snuggled with his mother. Tommy kissed them both as he went to the nursery to watch his son, spotting his crew.

"Which one's the second spawn?" Sean asked. Tommy pointed him out.

"Yup, that's mine."

"What are you proud that you impregnated her again?" Mike laughed a little before he was thumped again. Sean then took things to more serious matters.

"Sean, Janet's out of jail."

"I don't care. We've got T.R.O.'s on her and Sheila still." Tommy said as he folded his arms. "She took Colleen, Katy, and Connor from me and I'll be damned if I let anyone take Jaiden or Carmine from me."

"We've got your back Tom," Franco assured.

Ehren came home three days later and on the fifth day she'd become ill and felt horrible. Pillows all around the bed, blankets ruffled and she was curled into a ball. Sweatpants, tank top, and Tommy's Giants Hoody on her person. She had fever, muscle pain, a migraine, and back pain. Tommy kept the kids away from her whilst she was sick. The curtains were shut and he kept the boys quiet as he went into the bedroom.  
He parted her hair out of her face as he sat down on the bed.

"Honey…"He said very softly. "How are you feeling?"

"B-bad," Her voice choked as tears leaked from her eyes.

"How's your fever?"

"104.6"

He sat back up, his eyes searching in panic. "Okay, baby we need to get you to the hospital. That's dangerously high."

"My back hurts so bad Tommy, make it stop." She began to cry as he got on his radio.

"Gavin to Base come back,"

"Base."

"I need an ambulance at 16932 Mangrove Boulevard for a twenty-seven year old female with high temperature and severe pain."

"10-4, E.T.A. is three minutes out."

"Rodger," He put his radio on his belt. "Ehren I'm going to pick you up okay? It's going to hurt honey." He murmured and picked her up bridal style. She began to sob from the pain in her back as he pulled the hood on the hoodie up to shield her eyes. Sirens blared louder and louder as the ambulance drew closer to the home. The part that worried him was that he didn't know what was wrong with her. Her eyes rolled in her sockets as he held her.

"I'm so tired…"

"No Ehren you can't sleep, don't go to sleep! Talk to me, tell me our kids names," He'd do anything to keep her awake.

"Car…mine…ja…iden…"

"When's our anniversary!?"

"April 23."

"What's your company?"

She didn't respond. His eyes grew a little wide. "Ehren! EHREN!!" He took her out as the ambulance pulled up. He did all he could do to wake her. At the hospital, they lowered her fever from 105.2 to 102.7. Tommy paced anxiously before a doctor came to him. "Mr. Gavin,"

"Is she okay?" He said quickly, his hands shaking a little. The doctor heaved a sigh.

"She's very sick with a drug resistant strain of typhoid fever. We're doing all we can for your wife. Since you have been in contact with your wife we will need to give you the same treatment we are giving her."

"What about my kids? One's just a newborn and the other's two! Ever since she came home feeling sick I've isolated them from her,"

"We will give them pre-emptive vaccinations to prevent them from getting the strain." The doctor assured him.

Tommy ran a hand through his hair. "When will she be able to have visitors?"

"Not for a few days. She is very contagious and needs to remain in solitary quarantine until we are sure she cannot transmit the virus. Right now, she is a biohazard level 3 because of the disease's drug resistance." A doctor explained before a nurse led Tommy to give him the treatment. It felt like liquid fire coursing through his veins.  
He gripped the chair with white knuckles for a full three hours. He endured it for Ehren, and for the kids. His kids were until heavy guard of nurses in the nursery. Why did everything happen to her? Was he just cursed? After his treatment he stood outside the quarantine room. He couldn't bear to part from her as he watched her writhe in pain. He just wanted to hold her, make her pain go away.

"Ehren," He murmured with a hand on the glass pane. It hurt him so badly to watch her cry like she was and him not able to do anything for her.

"Tommy…Tommy…Tommy…"She whimpered and cried. He clenched his fists as his heart was being torn to pieces.

"I'm right here Ehren, I'm right here." He sighed a little. He couldn't take this and he looked around and grabbed a surgical mask and put it on his face and boldly went into her room and got onto the bed with her. "I'm right here now honey, you can fight this."

"Mr. Gavin you cannot be in here!" A nurse snapped, wearing a biohazard suit. He jerked his head toward her and got up, getting right into her face.

"She is MY wife; she's in PAIN, She NEEDS me! Don't you tell me I can't comfort her!!" he shouted. The woman cowered as Tommy got back onto the bed as she tried to move her head and lay on his shoulder. It was exhausting for her but he helped and held her. "You can fight this Ehren, bullets, smoke, alcoholics, and fire has never stopped you. Don't let this take you away."  
On the eighth day she was there she was in a private room recovering from the treatments. She cradled her little Carmine as Jaiden was snuggled against Tommy, napping.

"Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?" She teased Tommy as he grinned. Oh yeah, Ehren was back.

"Jaiden!! Shoes on please so we can go!" Ehren called to her five year old who was amidst playing with his hot wheels upstairs. She wiped up Carmine's face with was sticky with maple syrup. Her hair was white blonde with black highlights and very choppy, satin straight. Tommy was upstairs sleeping after pulling the graveyard shift.

"Shoes on momma!" He came into the kitchen and grabbed his Spiderman backpack for kindergarten. He loved going to school and always had something to talk about when she picked him up.

"Okay I'll drop you off at school, drop Carmine off at Uncle Timo's, then daddy will pick you both up." She picked Carmine up onto her hip as Jaiden ran out to her truck, a black Ford F-350. It wasn't busy at the moment down at the station. Sean and Franco played basketball since they had free time,

"Your game is way off Garrity," Franco made a dunk.

"Yeah well Maggie's just constantly yapping and other things have been driving me crazy…"Sean dribbled the ball as Franco arched a brow.

"Like what?"

"You know…I've been wondering what's been going on inside my own ass,"

Franco stood back straight with a questionable look before sighing and took the ball. "Forget your ass, have'm stick a camera in your ear and see what kind of brain damage you've got goin' on." He walked back into the bay before a police car pulled up which made Franco turn.

"Timo, what's up man?"

"Hey Franco, where's my brothers' wife?"

"Ehren? Probably in the kitchen, I'll get her."

Inside the squad car was her and Tommy's nephew Brian Keefe. In a short while Franco came out with Ehren. She smiled a little. "Hey T."

He walked up to her, talking in a low voice. "I didn't know who to take him to, you or Tommy…"

"Take who? What's going on?"

"I pulled Damian over…he had beer cans all over the floor, he reeked of beer…his blood alcohol content was .04,"

Ehren's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He's supposed to be up at NYU…Okay, I'll take him T. Thanks." Timo pulled him from the car and uncuffed him, then pushed him towards her. Damian always thought his aunt was more lenient than his uncle, but not in these circumstances. She took him to the kitchen and pulled out a car. Woozily he sat down and the crew scrambled to clear out. They knew she was very pissed off.

"Aunt Ehr—"

"No, I'll wait." She stopped him. He looked at her questionably.

"What for?"

"Your fucking common sense Damian!! You of all people should know not to drink and drive! You're seventeen goddamn years old! For Christ sakes your father was a firefighter, I'm a firefighter, and so is your uncle!"

"You guys always drink and drive!" He protested.

"Not when my kids are around, and I can pass a field sobriety test drunk off my ass. You can't. I should beat the fucking hell out of you but I don't hit kids. Never have, never will. A few days of house arrest in my house might do you some good."

"You can't do that! You aren't my mother and Tommy isn't my father!" He snarled at her before she grabbed his face harshly, making him look at her.

"What if you killed someone Damian, because you made a stupid mistake?! Or god forbid even killed yourself because you were drunk driving…I don't ever want to roll up and find you dead or have to extricate you from a heap of metal. It would devastate Tommy…and I don't want to see him go through with more losses…I love you like my own damn flesh and blood and your cousins look up to you, do they deserve to lose you?"

"N-no," She watched tears rise in his eyes before letting go of his face.

"Next time you want to get slammed, call one of us and we will come get you. No questions asked." Her voice grew soft as the teenager began to cry. "Why did you do it Brian…"

"Because I'm alone. Mom's in jail, dad's dead, my girlfriend left me… and the alcohol just made everything go away." He just latched onto her as she sighed softly. He was the newest victim of alcoholism in the family.

"Damian…you should've called. We always have a spare room and we are your legal guardians….instead of turning to beer." She patted his back. "Timo and I won't tell Tommy about this but I am going to call him to come get you. I'm placing you under citizens' house arrest for the next three months. No phone, no computer, no friends." She let him sit back down. That was a VERY lenient punishment. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed home. Tommy was amidst standing on the couch as the Jets made a touchdown.

"Yes!! Yes!! Hello…" He sat back down.

"Turn off the game and come get your nephew." She rolled her eyes.

"The hell's he doing over there?"

"Don't ask. Just come get him, and get Carmine from Timo's and don't forget to pick Jaiden up after school."

"OoKay, did you find a replacement for Lou since he transferred?"

"Yep. Eddie Motelli. New Probie."

"Then Mike can no longer be called probie. We can just call him shortshit now." He laughed a bit. "I'm going, I'm going."

"Thanks. Love you."

He smiled a bit. "Love you too." He hung up and shut off the game. She put her phone away as the bell rang for a call. Later that evening she came home and Damian was playing with the boys after sobering up. Tommy had Chinese delivered for dinner and was picking at his food. She shed her boots and duffel bag, going into the kitchen. "Hey handsome."

"Hey beautiful." He came over and kissed her. She grinned against his lips and hopped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Feeling a little frisky there Ehren?" He held up with his hands holding her thighs.

"Maybe…"She said cheekily before kissing him again. He grinned boyishly before letting her down and she picked up the container of sweet and sour chicken.

"Mommy mommy mommy!" Carmine came running in to her and hugged onto her leg.

"Whatty whatty whatty baby boy?"

"Up!" He held his arms up to her. She set the box down and picked him up.

"Did you have fun with Uncle Timo and Aunt Anna?"

"No."

Tommy's brows arched. "Why not?"

"A lady kepted trying to get in…"Tommy and Ehren looked at each other.

"Janet." They said in unison as Carmine stuck his thumb into his mouth before Ehren set him down. Janet just violated her newest restraining order.

"I'll call Anna and then the cops to report the violation." Tommy sighed a little. This was getting really tiresome and old at the same time.

"What do you expect? We're New York City firefighters, our lives are one big goddamn gamble." Ehren got up onto the counter. Tommy went over and put his arms around her waist.

"I'm going to take some overtime tonight, alright?"

She nodded and gave him a kiss before heading upstairs to shower and lay down in the cool bed with a smile. Tommy sat in his truck for awhile just laying his head on the steering wheel before getting out of the truck and headed inside the station. He could smell wonderful smells, and Lou was cooking fried boneless chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cornbread. He joined the men as Lou served up the food.

"I better see clean plates, my grandmother's recipe god rest'r." Lou spoke as they began to chow down. Sean paced into the kitchen after his little tiff with Maggie and they didn't glance up from the food.

"C-Can I ask you guys a question?" He asked in utter frustration.

"No. Because when you ask a question, its either so stupid or retarded that non of us will be able to sleep tonight then all night long we'll be thinking about it and laughing our tired asses off." Lou said as he pointed his fork at Sean before Franco sighed and let Sean ask away.

"Well Maggie brought up the spankbank and I was wondering if you guys still had yours,"

"I'm EATING." Tommy growled.

"Every guy does…"Franco looked at him as if he was retarded.

Sean folded his arms. "Well who's in yours?" They went around the table.

Tommy shrugged. "Ellen DeGeneres." He got an odd look all across the table. "What? Haven't you even see her dance?" Everyone took there turn but It came to Sean and things started getting ugly.

"Garritty, who's in yours, and Maggie don't count..."

"My old chemistry teacher, that girl at Starbucks you know the puerto rican with the nose ring, Jo-El Kanpatz that girl I went to prom with, and there's Ehren..."Sean the shut up when Tommy stopped eating.

"Ehren who?" Franco asked

"Okay Knives! Give me all the knives now!" Lou said with urgency, Franco giving Lou the utensils.

"Ehren Konzinsky, that cheerleader..."

Tommy got up. "I believe you're talking about my wife!" He began pacing a little bit. "Are you jerking off to my wife!?" He became angry and had him by the collar.

"N-n-no Tommy, I don't jerk off to Ehren..."

"DON'T YOU USE THOSE WORDS in the same DAMN WORDS IN THE SAME SENTENCE!" He yelled.

"Okay I'm sorry Tommy!! I didn't mean for it to happen!" Tommy shoved Sean down.

"Just how do you picture her!"

"Remember at the barbecue and she had that little black bikini and her getting out of the pool? Well...she kinda takes everything off b-but I run, I run away into the arms of Ehr---ica Mondale..."Sean sw the look on Tommy's face and quickly ran out, Tommy following.

"C'mere Garritty," He ran out and tackled him which sparked the brawl. Ehren had come in, having a bit of news and gasped at the sight of her husbans.

"Holy shit! Tommy!" Ehren raised her voice as she ran over.

"Ehren get him off me!" Sean begged, fending off blows. Ehren grabbed Tommy by his hair. "Let him the fuck go Tommy!"

"You let go of my hair!"

"Is this the example you set for your sons!? Get your head out of your ass and your cock out of your mouth and just fuckin' maybe you'll avoid sleeping on the couch! I don't care what the hell Sean did or said but you need to cool it!" She then let him go, Sean managing to scamper off for safety.

"Stop interfering woman! You don't need to fight my battles!"

"You were kicking the piss out of Sean!"

"He jacks off to you Ehren! That bothers me as your husband!" Tommy got in her face and she got into his.

"I'd rather not explain to the boys why their father is in prison! And I don't want to raise another baby without it's father!" She yelled and made him back up a little.

"What...your pregnant?"

"No, my breasts, ass, and stomach are going to get bigger for no fucking reason...yes I'm pregnant Tommy...and I came to resign so I can be a stay-at-home mother to the kids." Ehren ran a hand through her hair.

"I...thought you were on the pill?"

"I am goddammit!" She snapped. Tommy just sighed. A seven year old, a three year old, and now a baby on the way. He just brought her into a hug, settling her violent moodswing. "Tommy...Jai and Carmine were planned..."

"Look, why don't you go home, take a nice hot bath and a long nap. I'll get the kids and dinner and on top of that, I'll do laundry..."He kissed her softly. She just melted and leaned her head to his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down her back before letting her go. Like any married couple they did fight, but it only lasted minutes to hours.That evening Tommy fed the boys McDonalds. "Don't tell your mother I'm putting fast food in your, alright?"

"Okay Dad," Jaiden munched on his french fries at the table.

"Now things are going to be changing soon guys. Mom's quitting her job to be home with you guys and the baby when it's born. Both of you have to be extra good for your mother while she's pregnant."

"Where is the baby?" Carmine piped.

"It's in her belly," Jaiden stated with authority. Carmine looked at his brother in confusion.

"Why'd she eat it?"

Tommy laughed a little. "She didn't eat it kiddo, the baby grows inside her then the doctors get it out. That's how we got you guys."

"Mom said she gets pregnant because you can't keep your------"Jaiden began as Tommy intervened.

"Your mother has moodswings, don't listen to her. Dinner, homework for Jaiden, bath, then bed." He said and went upstairs to the bedroom. "Baby,"

"Hm?" She was nestled in the blankets. He rubbed his head a little.

"What have you been telling the boys?"

"Like what?"

"I swear to god Jaiden was going to say something he shouldn't in front of his little brother that he shouldn't about your pregnancy."

"He must've overheard me talking to one of my friends...Just some girl talk and I happened to mention you have a problem keeping it in your pants,"

Tommy scowled slightly with a furrowed brow with a sigh before getting up to change into some grey sweatpants, black underarmor and a grey t-shirt. "Yeah well Jaiden almost said that at the table, in front of Carmine." He laid down with her after awhile and they went to sleep. He was jolted away by the crying of his oldest son. He rose like a zombie and sighed a little bit and walked down the hallway and opened the door to the boys room. Carmine was laying on his face and Jaiden was pushing on him, crying.

"Shit!!" Tommy forced Jaiden away and turned Carmine over. "What did you do!!" He yelled. The small three year old boy was dead.

"I didn't mean to! We were just playing and he stop moving!" Jaiden sobbed. Ehren heard the yelling and sobbing and came into the room and gasped.

"CARMINE!!" She shrieked, beginning to cry himself as she fell on her knees and held her dead son. The police were called and the coroner took the dead boy. Carlos Muenez, Tommy's brother's partner before he died, was there.

"Hey Tommy...I'm sorry for your loss...what happened?"

"Tell him Jaiden." Tommy said sternly.

"Carmine couldn't sleep. So we were playing, we wrestled and he had be under a pillow then I had him...and he didn't say let up...and he stopped moving...I didn't mean to!!" Jaiden wailed. Carlos sighed a little.

"Tom...we can't arrest him, he's seven...and I think it was an accident..."

"No, No an accident is spilling beer on the carpet after your wife cleans it. Killing your brorther is not an accident." Tommy shook his head, his tone very bitter.

"He's a child, I'm not taking him in. How's Ehren holding up?"

"She's hysterical but I'm trying to keep her calm so she won't miscarry the baby. We're going to head in to Ireland for awhile so she'll settle." Tommy sighed. "After we bury Carmine."

"Dublin?"

"Yeah it's where she used to live before she moved to Boston then Brooklyn and I remember where we met. I was just being an asshole, but I guess that she was so much like me, that we just came together...I never cared this much about Janet or Sheila or even Nona."

"How's the alcoholism?"

"I don't drink much anymore. Only beer, and even that's on occasion...Survivors guilt's in remission. I'm not the dick I used to be."

"I think Johnny would be proud to hear that Tom."

"Yeah I know," Tommy left Carlos and held Ehren close. Mike had shown up to give condolences and take Jaiden while they vacationed. It was for Ehren's own good. Jaiden took his Uncle Mike's hand as he was taken away.

"Ehren, go upstairs and pack your stuff and let's go. We're going to Dublin."

"No we aren't going anywhere. Tomorrow we are both burying our son and going to work." She was upset and angry. This was her bull-headedness and he wasn't in the mood to listen to her.

"Ehren, if you live me, Jaiden, and the baby, you'll go."

"Don't play that card!"

"Ehren, do you want to miscarry?" He said with a serious look. It made Ehren shut up quickly. She didn't want to lose the baby at all now that Carmine was gone. "Then we're going to Ireland so you can relax and have a stress-free pregnancy."

"O-okay Tommy." Her voice was quiet and he kissed her forehead.

Ehren gave birth in October to a healthy baby girl whom they had named Sable isabelle Gavin. Ehren laid in bed with Sable laying next to her. Jaiden peered into his parents room since his father was at work.

"Mom?"

Ehren had forgiven her son for what had happened and she shifted toward him. "J? What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep." He whined and woke Sable who began to cry. Ehren sighed a little and picked Sable up, a spit cloth on her shoulder.

"Sable," She sighed a little bit. "Jaiden take your half lunesta okay? It'll take me awhile to get your sister to go back to sleep."

"Mom why do you hate me?" Jaiden asked sadly and She continued to rock Sable.

"Jaiden I don't hate you, it's just hard to pay attention to you with Sable..."She sighed as Sable continued to cry. She picked up the phone and called Tommy who was asleep in the bunk. He groaned a little since this was the only time he'd been getting sleep.

"Hello..."

"Sable won't stop...I think she hates me..."

"Honey she doesn't hate you...uh get my work jacket out of the hamper, she likes it." Tommy ran a hand down his face as she got the sweatshirt out of the hamper and watched Sable settled and snuggled with it. "Works all the time..."

"Tommy she doesn't want me...she wants you..."Ehren became upset. Tommy knew she was going through P.T.S.D. again and he just rolled with it.

"I'll be home soon."

She just hung up and rocked Sable and laid in bed with her, singing softly in Celtic as Sable slept. Both mother and daughter slept before a smoke alarm went off and she jolted awake and she coughed hard, seeing flames.

"Shit!" She looked around. "Jaiden!?"

"Mommy!"

"Take your sister and get outside to safety!"

Jaiden got through and took Sable and used the unburned backstairs and got outside but his mother come out. When two crews rolled up, including the 62's, Tommy saw him.

"Jaiden, where's your mother!"

The small boy began crying and pointed to the burning home. Everyone scrambled but all that was found of her was her wedding ring. This couldn't be eal. He'd almost lost her once, not again. He felt tears in his eyes as he held it in his palms. "Jimmy...Johnny...tell me you didn't take her,"

"Daddy."

He turned and fell backwards seeing Carmine. "Holy shit, Carmine?!" But the boy was just another ghost.

"Daddy why didn't you save mommy..."

"Sh-Sh-she's..."

"Why didn't you save her daddy..."


End file.
